By Matthew JacksonStaff ReporterOne of Huntsville's own has stepped into the shoes of a gladiator.

Erin
Cummings, a graduate of Huntsville High School and the University of
North Texas, is now one of the stars of the new premium cable series
"Spartacus: Blood and Sand," which premiered on the Starz network Jan.
22.

After spending her childhood in various Huntsville drama
productions, and her college years working with various acting troupes
and community theaters in the Dallas area, Cummings set out for
Hollywood nine years ago to pursue her acting dreams.

After
nearly a decade of steady work as a television guest star and
independent film actress, a chance to join the main cast of one of the
most-hyped new shows of the year serves as a major breakthrough.

Cummings
co-stars in the series, which re-tells the story of Spartacus and his
slave rebellion against the Romans, as Sura, the wife of Spartacus
(played by Andy Whitfield). She came to the role through a combination
of industry connections and hard work.

Record Audience of 3.3 Million Powers Weekend Debut of New Starz Original Series, 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand'

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Updated figures for the series premiere of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" indicate that more than 3.3 million total viewers* tuned in for episode one of the new Starz Original, a record performance for a series debut on the premium pay TV network.

Based on live plus same-day DVR viewing, the Friday night 10PM ET/PT airing on Starz drew a 2.1 HH rating (661,000 viewers) and Encore a 1.2 rating (580,000 viewers), or more than 1.2 million viewers combined. An additional 430,000 viewers (1.6 HH rating) watched at 11PM ET/PT on Starz.

The 3.3 million viewership figure includes three additional weekend airings on Starz and Encore with same-day DVR usage. Figures from other Starz channels, additional DVR usage, starz.com viewership and on-demand/online previews with affiliates are expected to grow that figure well past 4 million total viewers.

With a gross average viewing audience of more than 2.5 million for the six Starz/Encore airings, Stephan Shelanski, executive vice president, programming for Starz Entertainment commented, "This is the most successful premiere in the company's history. We are very gratified to see that our excitement and faith in the series - already renewed for a second season - has been matched by initial demand. This show is unlike anything ever seen on television, and we are confident that passion for the series will grow as the character development and incredible story arcs unfold."

Post-premiere episodes of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" debut on Starz on Fridays at 10PM ET/PT with an additional airing on Sunday nights at 10PM ET/PT.

About "Spartacus: Blood and Sand"

Produced by Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi, Joshua Donen and Steven S. DeKnight, "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" is the most highly anticipated original series in the history of Starz. The 13-episode hour-long drama was renewed for an epic second season prior to the series premiere on January 22, 2010.

Andy: She's great. I think she actually got me the job. She came in
to do a workshop with Steven DeKnight and the director, Rick Jacobson,
in the audition process. I was doing these scenes, and there were some
romantic scenes in the auditions. The casting director was there, but
we couldn't really generate the chemistry. So, they brought in this
girl and she was like a whirlwind. She was like, "Okay, everybody stop.
You and I will just go in the corner and get to know each other." She
was great. I was just like, "This is what Spartacus would feel like
with that woman." She was just this whirlwind of energy.

35mm presentation - Bitch Slap is a post-modern, thinking
man's throwback to the B movie/exploitation films of the 1950s though
1970s, as well as a loving, sly parody of them. Inspired by the likes
of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Kung Fu Nun and the pantheon of
Blacksploitation films, Bitch Slap mixes hot girls, fast cars, big
guns, nasty tongues, outrageous action and jaw-dropping eye candy with
a message: Don't be naughty! At its core, the action follows three bad
girls (a down-and-out stripper, a drug-running killer and a corporate
powerbroker) as they arrive at a remote desert hideaway to extort
massive booty from a ruthless underworld kingpin. Things quickly spin
out of control as allegiances change, truths are revealed and other
criminals arrive for the score. With "cult classic" written all over
it, Bitch Slap is a cat-fighting, pile-driving, go-go dancing,
bronco-busting, bumping & grinding, philosophy-touting,
breast-augmenting, femme-tastic fight-fantasy of epic proportions!

For those who have been thinking they couldn't watch the first episode without buying a subscription to Starz, think again. Starz has released the first episode "The Red Serpent" on their site. It's open to everyone (if you are over 17) and from all regions.

Erin was on ''Mansion Mayhem'' on Playboy Radio, Sirius and XM channel 99, 3pm-4pm PST today
and will be on 10am-11am tomorrowtalking about Spartacus & Bitch Slap.

America Olivo and Eric Grundeman called in while Erin was on the air. It was noted that there would be Bitch Slap screenings in Boston, Denver, and LA again, air dates to be announced. While there is no podcast available of the show, you can try and get a free trial through the Sirius website for the program.

Katrina Law (Mira - a role that will surface later in the first season) and Erin Cummings (Sura) have both tweeted. Katrina talks about the Spartacus Workout and Erin gives a brief look into the Spartacus dinner last night.

MisskatrinalawJust shot the "Spartacus Workout" for Extra! and Men's Health Magazine with my SPARTACUS cast mates. Now it's time for all of us to eat!

ErinLCummingsWhat a night! Starz pre-Sparty premiere dinner. Shared industry war stories and got fashion advice from an icon. Still a bit in awe...

The new AUSXIP Spartacus Artwork section is now open for submissions. After the show premieres and you would like to create some artwork based on the show or the current promo images which are now online, you can submit it to maryd@ausxip.com

Any images on AUSXIP Spartacus Blood and Sand can used in your artwork and that includes upcoming episode stills, screencaptures, promo images etc.

Since the show contains nudity and this site is general access, artwork containing full frontal nudity for the women and men / breasts for the women will not be accepted. Submission doesn't guarantee your artwork will be accepted. This rule strictly needs to be followed.

Type: The artwork can be hand-drawn art or graphical manipulation
Resolution: any resolution you wish but the higher resolution is better

Based on the same rules that are in place for the AUSXIP Xenaverse Art Section.

Erin stars in the highly anticipated and controversial film Bitch Slap. Why controversial? Maybe the LA Times said it best when they asked if
Bitch Slap was empowerment of exploitation. She's also on TV as the wife
of Spartacus in the new series of that name on Starz. From kicking ass
in Bitch Slap to this wife of Spartacus, this beauty from Texas raised
partially in Asia is going to redefine women on screen and give some new
thinking on music, love, muscle cars and men.

First off, thank you to everybody who's been able to attend theatrical
screenings of the movie! For those of you trying to watch it on VOD,
here is what we know:

Fox is handling the Video-On-Demand distribution, and we've just received word that Bitch Slap is now available via PlayStation 3 and Verizon FiOS at premium prices. After the next week or two, Bitch Slap will be widened to more services, including Time Warner Cable and Comcast, with a potentially lower price.

Eric and Rick would like to apologize to any folks who are waiting to
see the film but have cable providers who do not yet have Bitch Slap;
it's as frustrating for us as it is for you. But don't fret! Though we
don't have a date for the availability expansion, we'll post it to the
page as soon as we hear from Fox.

Thanks for your continued support and enthusiasm. We will be Slapping you all as soon as we can!

Starz has released new videos which were originally shown on the Starz channel to promote Spartacus leading up to the premiere on January 22.
The videos with Erin as Sura have been posted to AUSXIP Video Spartacus Blood and Sand Channel and AUSXIP Erin Cummings Channel

With IM Global / Bombshell Pictures gleefully titillating feature Bitch Slap
bowing today in limited theatrical release and to Video on Demand, this
scribe sat down recently with the makers and stars of the film to
discuss their 'guns, boobs and brawls' opus, and was thrilled to do so.

Why? In this writer's estimation, Bitch Slap has set the bar in that sub-genre of film, and now holds the heavyweight belt as the 'Quintessential Guy Flick.'
This is fortuitous, not only for audiences with high expectations (the
flick's trailer and teaser art has been burning up the Internet for
months) but also for the filmmakers, whose goal was to create 'The Best Bitch Fight in Film History.' [...]

Bitch Slap opens today for a limited theatrical run in Los
Angeles at The Nuart (11272 Santa Monica Boulevard), in New York at The
Quad (34 West 13th Street) and in San Francisco at The Lumiere (1572
California Street). Tickets are on sale for all locations through MovieTickets.com and for Los Angeles and San Francisco through LandmarkTheaters.com.

New Bitch Slap images, videos & interviews are available. The three leading ladies are interviewed on fearnet.com, the site also features a clip of the awesome fight scene between Erin and America's characters, Hel and Camero.

Erin Cummings showed up for interviews looking a lot like her Bitch Slap character. Hel sports a '50s pinup girl look among the trio of scantily clad babes. Her real life outfit was a bit more colorful and possibly conservative, but it definitely looked like Hel's couture.

"I'm wearing pinupgirlclothing.com, both accessories and the wardrobe," Cummings said. "Truth be told, the pinup style of Hel was kind of formed by my complete disinterest in standing next to Julia Voth in a bikini. [...]

Exploi-powerment? Will it even matter during what director Rick Jacobson claims is 'the greatest chick fight in cinema history'?

Following the year-end onslaught of high-class commercial releases and ritzy awards-competitive films, it is easy to feel the need for something basic, less rigorous and more freewheeling -- a cinematic sorbet, as it were, a palate-cleanser along the lines of the retro-exploitation homage "Bitch Slap."

Directed by Rick Jacobson, who co-wrote the script with Eric Gruendemann (with both credited as producers), "Bitch Slap" opens Friday at the Nuart in Los Angeles as well as in New York City, San Francisco and on video-on-demand.

Three women (played by Erin Cummings, America Olivo and Julia Voth), each with a distinct personality and the wardrobe to match, find themselves in a remote desert hideaway with a male hostage who is to disclose the location of a cache of extremely valuable diamonds. As various intrigues and entanglements are revealed and a series of flashbacks unravel the convoluted back story that put them all there, the women fight one another and assorted arriving interlopers.

Erin Cummings gives a testimonial about experiencing a facial treatment by Dino Morra. Beverly Hills skin care expert Dino Morra is the founder of Dino Morra Face & Body Care, the inventor of a revolutionary product line and the creator of his own signature facial treatments. Visit DinoMorra.com for more information.